ENGIE acquires Fenix International for Africa expansion

French utility brand ENGIE and US startup Fenix have agreed on a transition of ENGIE’s 100% acquisition of Fenix International.

The deal, of an undisclosed sum, aims to help ENGIE expand across Africa through developing the off-grid solar energy market.

Through the investment, the French company plans to expand electricity services to at least 10 new countries throughout the next five years.

“In order to achieve our goals we need hundreds of millions of dollars in equity and debt, and ENGIE is committed to provide what is needed,” Fenix CEO, Lyndsay Handler said.

“This is not about a big acquisition, it’s about reaching the over 600 million Africans that lack access to electricity.”

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Fenix was founded in 2009 to offer Solar Home Systems (SHS) across the continent, employing 350 and having 140,000 customers in Uganda alone.

“We believe that combining the strengths of ENGIE, a global energy player and Fenix, a successful company with very strong customer focus, high-quality products and an experienced team anchored in the heart of Sub-Saharan Africa, will enable faster deployment of SHS to the large Afri-can population still lacking access to electricity,” reported Bruno Bensasson, CEO of ENGIE Africa.

“Fenix will be the agile growth engine for ENGIE’s SHS business in Africa and enable us to become a leading profitable off-grid energy services company on the continent, reaching millions of customers by 2020.”

ENGIE aim to provide 20mn people globally with access to decarbonised, decentralised energy by 2020.